JAVA or .NET ?

Both have their own prospects.

Personally I'd prefer .NET

@Krishna: Okay Why you prefer .NET over JAVA ?

I learned both, and .NET seemed easier to me

And development is much faster comparable with Java. Well this is my personal preference, Java lovers don't start a war

I voted for Java, even though I like both of them.
Personally, I feel .net means being limited to only Windows platform. Java has advantage here..

IMO, Java can give you more job opportunities as an enterprise software developer. But if you are planning to do freelancing, then .Net might be a better choice.

As Prime_Coder mentioned, being platform dependent is a BIG disadvantage of .Net.

Personally working on .NET , I would suggest you ditch both Java and .NET and work on Web Designing. No matter what technology you work the thing which the end user sees is the UI! . With web designing, you dont have to worry about .NET, Java, python, ruby, [Insert Other Languages here].

Both languages have their fare share in IT industry. I work on .NET while I have a few friends of mine working in Java. However, I always feel that they get better opportunities than me because there are sooo many .NET professionals than Java.
That's what I have seen in my seven years of experience.

Above post is misleading. Please ignore. Architecture plays an equally important role.

Well .NET is not cross platform, but the underlying technology called as CLI is cross platform and if right cross platform APIs are targetted, it is indeed possible to have cross platform apps on the CLI. The Mono project is an Open Source implementation of the CLI, and you can leverage it to deliver cross platform compatibility with .NET technologies but this can be a tricky affair.

There are also certain disadvantages, like lack of support of WPF and other technogies and it occasionally lags behind the Microsoft's implementation of .NET.

java - Mono is frequently used to say "Yes, .NET is cross-platform". How valid is that claim? - Programmers - Stack Exchange

In terms of career choice, Java EE indeed has (apparently) the most job opportunities and you can blindly learn Java EE technologies and jobs will always be there.

Study Oracle dude !

@xtremevicky: I would like to shift to IT industry which offers BFSI (Banking, Financial Service and Insurance) services which is evergreen in my opinion. And knowledge of Oracle will be an added advantage because it'll be used as a backend. But my confusion is in the language used in frontend

Wait don't the BFSIs outsource their apps to consultancies? So how can Java/.NET developers be hired by them?

I prefer .NET

Oracle has its own application which it uses at frontend and that is way better than .Net or Java .

SAP and Oracle implement ERP ( I dont expect you to know this ) but having a great hold of Oracle 10G and PL SQL will go a long way in your IT career !

Liverpool_fan said:

Well .NET is not cross platform, but the underlying technology called as CLI is cross platform and if right cross platform APIs are targetted, it is indeed possible to have cross platform apps on the CLI. The Mono project is an Open Source implementation of the CLI, and you can leverage it to deliver cross platform compatibility with .NET technologies but this can be a tricky affair.

There are also certain disadvantages, like lack of support of WPF and other technogies and it occasionally lags behind the Microsoft's implementation of .NET.

java - Mono is frequently used to say "Yes, .NET is cross-platform". How valid is that claim? - Programmers - Stack Exchange

In terms of career choice, Java EE indeed has (apparently) the most job opportunities and you can blindly learn Java EE technologies and jobs will always be there.

Click to expand...

Agreed to this post! Mono project is good open source example.
But I want to say only one thing here!
JAVA is language dependent but platform independent, whereas .NET is platform dependent but language independent. That is you can use ASP or C# or VB in .NET, but this is not possible for Java.

@Liverpoolfan: Consultancies ?? Do you mean to say IT service industries like TCS, Accenture e.t.c?

I guess, that's what their business is based on, No?
Not the most well acquintained with the industry but I doubt BFSI actually hire in house developers in large numbers. Think they mostly need Network/System Engineers. But a professional here could clear this.

Working on .Net with almost 5 years of exp now.

Speaking about .Net and Java , both are having excellent openings in industry. Market is full with Java as well as .Net developers. However , skilled developers are less in both.

So if you are really good at anyone of the programming languages, then you are good to go.

As i am on .Net track , will promote .Net But choice is yours. Dont think too much about cross platform and as jobs are in ample amount for both, Make sure you sharpen your skills else you will be just another java or .net developer in market.

Garbage said:

IMO, Java can give you more job opportunities as an enterprise software developer. But if you are planning to do freelancing, then .Net might be a better choice.

As Prime_Coder mentioned, being platform dependent is a BIG disadvantage of .Net.

Click to expand...

It no way limits your earning or job opportunity.

@OP : Keep one thing in mind when asking such questions , everyone will promote their own field as they have experienced it.